Montgomery Co. steps up spraying after 1st human case of West Nile virus

Montgomery County mosquito fighter Matthew Bickley sprays for the pests Thursday in Spring.

Montgomery County mosquito fighter Matthew Bickley sprays for the pests Thursday in Spring.

Photo: Johnny Hanson, Staff

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Pesticide rises from a storm drain as Montgomery workers spray Thursday in the 400 block of Wildwood Forest Drive in Spring.

Pesticide rises from a storm drain as Montgomery workers spray Thursday in the 400 block of Wildwood Forest Drive in Spring.

Photo: Johnny Hanson, Staff

Montgomery Co. steps up spraying after 1st human case of West Nile virus

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Montgomery County officials are spraying more mosquito-killing chemicals on parks, backyards and other areas after the county's first human case of the West Nile virus was confirmed this week.

Officials confirmed Tuesday thata man over the age of 60 contracted the virus in south Montgomery County, where in recent weeks public health officials have found high levels of mosquitoes carrying the potentially deadly West Nile.

Crews are spraying more in places where mosquitoes hide and are most active, said Charles Cobb, traffic operations manager at Precinct 3 of the Montgomery County Commissioners, who is helping the precinct with West Nile.

"We've stepped up testing, stepped up spraying," Cobb said.

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The man with the virus is at least the sixth reported human case in the state this year. He is not in the hospital and is recovering, said Jennifer Nichols-Contella, a spokeswoman for the Montgomery County Public Health District.

The five other human cases were reported in Dallas, Ellis, Liberty and Travis counties.

Anyone contracting the disease will usually experience flu-like symptoms about five to 15 days after being bitten by an infected mosquito. Symptoms include fever, headache, muscle weakness, fatigue and nausea, which in severe cases can progress to seizures, paralysis and even death.

Those with weakened immune systems or those who are either very young or over age 50 are the most at risk.

So far, there have been no human cases reported in Harris County, said Sandy Kachur, a spokeswoman for the county's Public Health and Environmental Services. Harris County is, however, seeing a jump in West Nile cases in mosquitoes, with 457 mosquito samples testing positive so far in 2014 compared with 147 for all of last year, Kachur said. She said the county sprays more in areas where it finds a mosquito testing positive for the virus.

Statewide, there are no reported deaths because of the virus this year, according to Christine Mann, spokeswoman for the Texas Department of State Health Services.

The number and severity of West Nile cases often come in ebbs and flows, making it hard to predict how deadly a season might be.

Huge surge in 2012

Last year, there were 14 deaths in Texas attributed to the virus, according to state data, but none in Harris or Montgomery counties.

In 2012, the state saw a huge surge that resulted in 1,868 cases and 89 deaths, the most in the nation. Four people died in Harris County and one died in Montgomery County, according to state data.

Alan Barrett, director of the Sealy Center for Vaccine Development at the University of Texas Medical Branch, studies West Nile in conjunction with Harris County. He said he is studying strains of this year's virus to see if it has mutated to become more prone to cause disease, which many feared was a possibility after 2012.

But he said last year's virus had not become meaningfully more virulent than in 2012. Results of this year's test probably won't be available for several weeks, but so far the evidence indicates increased virulence isn't likely.

Barrett said little is understood about what causes the virus to show up and proliferate.

He said the virus's effects often are different from year to year - this year in Harris County, many mosquitoes have been found carrying the virus but no human cases have been found.

"We've seen a similar thing in some past years as well," he said. "Do we understand it? Afraid not."

The number of statewide cases this year so far is not unusual, Mann said, though it is difficult to tell how the rest of the summer will play out.

No vaccines to prevent West Nile infections exist and no medications exist to treat the disease.

Avoid dawn, dusk

To try to prevent getting infected, people should wear insect repellent, avoid going out at dawn and dusk when mosquitoes are most active, wear long sleeves and long pants, and put screens on windows and doors. Mosquitoes breed in pools of water, so people should empty any containers with water in their yards and check their gutters to make sure they're not clogged.

"We're in the middle of mosquito season. People are on vacations and they're outside enjoying the summer," Kachur said. "It's important that people are taking preventative measures to reduce the likelihood of getting bitten."